The distinct characteristic between a good leader and a not-so-good leader is their ability to adapt to various leadership styles. Even though one style will generally dominate, it’s how a leader applies the different styles to different situations that makes them one their employees look up to.
The flexibility to adapt between these styles will also impact the company culture. As 79% of employees have said they would quit their job due to a lack of appreciation from leaders, it’s imperative to have a good company culture to mould around the relationship a leader has with its team. A good relationship will have a better company culture, resulting in higher quality output and ultimately a more profitable business.
In this blog, we outline 4 different types of leadership styles:
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Democratic
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Delegative
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Transformational
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Coaching
Identify what style of leadership you use now and discover how you can adopt the other styles to be the best leader you can be.
Do you like to listen to your employees’ opinions?
A democratic leadership style, arguably the most common and overall most effective, makes decisions based on the opinions of their employees.
This works well when implementing new processes into the business as your employees are the people who use them day-to-day. By taking their thoughts on board effects the decision to benefit their way of working, resulting in higher productivity levels and more efficient working.
An autocratic leadership style is therefore the opposite and, in comparison, not as effective as democratic. Therefore, if you like to be in charge but right now, aren’t taking into consideration what your employees think, it might be time to switch it up and really take on board the opinions and ideas from your team.
Are your team capable of working on their own?
A delegative leadership style is a hands-off approach, giving the freedom to the employees to get work done on their own schedule while the accountability still lies with the leader.
This style of leadership is also known as laisse-faire, a French saying that translates to “let it go.” In this case, leaders let go of the responsibility and pass it on to their teams to empower them to embrace their own working styles.
Trust is crucial to this working relationship as 77% of employees said that trust in their leaders helped improve their engagement. So, where employees have this freedom, leaders aren’t managing them so much and can spend more time on other tasks. However, leaders must ensure they are as present and available as possible for communication between the team, so morale is kept high, performance doesn’t drop and problem-solving isn’t confused.
Is your business looking to scale and grow?
A transformational leadership style focuses on motivating teams to create change, driving innovation to grow the business.
This style of leadership is ideal for start-ups or businesses looking to scale. The mindset pushes your employees to achieve the goals set out for them, so they excel in themselves which, in turn, excels the company’s growth too.
Typically, those who have the characteristics of a transformational leader are passionate, motivational and enthusiastic. Their energy is infectious and inspires their team to succeed, providing higher morale so there is more trust and respect between working relationships, resulting in better job satisfaction.
Do you want to nurture your team to be the best they can be?
A coaching leadership style can be imagined like a sports coach on the side lines of a pitch, analysing the game with a whistle in mouth ready to blow when a time out is needed to reassess the strategy.
In a business sense, this looks like a leader in their office, analysing the progress of a project with a meeting ready to be scheduled when the team needs to come together to brainstorm.
This leadership style is successful when communication is open and honest from both parties. It’s important to have frequent conversations to provide constructive feedback and celebrate every win. Focus on developing the skills of each individual and nurture them so they are always improving to perform to the best of their ability.
Employees will have a better understanding of how their work directly impacts the success of the project, and long-term, the business. As well as having their personal and professional development supported so it’s less likely they are going to get bored in their job when there are always opportunities for them to think more creatively and grow.
Choose the right leadership style for your team
When growing a business, leading a team might not be something that comes naturally to you. The key is to understand that everyone is human and therefore no one is perfect. The main responsibility of a leader is to set a clear direction towards a goal and have an inspiring vision that motivates a team to achieve the business goals.
Once you have every member on board, you are set to sail a successful business.
Are you looking for a leader or to become one?
Take a look at our current vacancies to find a new leadership opportunity here https://www.nextgeneration.ie/jobs or drop us an email enquiries@nextgeneration.ie for more details on how to work with us.
